Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

With climate change already generating storms, heat waves, and droughts beyond historical norms, local governments need to do more to prepare. A decisionmaking framework developed by RAND allows communities to stress-test ideas, weigh the trade-offs, and plan for a range of possible futures.

California hospitals are required by law to reduce their buildings' risk of collapse by 2020 and to remain operational after an earthquake by 2030. Hospitals have to pay for the upgrades, which could cost between $34 billion and $143 billion statewide. One third of California hospitals are already in some form of financial distress.

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Overview that describes the literature search CRCG undertook and the database developed with a goal of assessing the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the health, social, and economic wellbeing of Gulf Coast communities.

An evaluation of the current state of research and practice in regional pedestrian and bicycle demand modelling for both commute and noncommute trips. The results of the study were connected to planning needs and practice.

The Food Standards Agency engaged RAND Europe to design an approach to strategic surveillance for the UK food system. The study team produced an end-to-end approach, identified implementation steps and considered their impact and feasibility.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has called for new internet regulation starting in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy, and data portability. His new rules could be expanded, as part of the follow-on discussion he calls for, to include several other necessary areas: security-by-design, net worthiness and updated internet business models.

The 'telephone first' approach in general practice does not work for all patients and can lead to challenges for primary care staff. The system clearly suited some patients, avoiding the need to visit the surgery, but was difficult for others.

An evaluation of a 'telephone first' approach, where patients requesting a general practitioner appointment are asked to speak to a GP on the telephone first. The review included practice comparisons, plus patient and staff surveys.

After years of declines, apprehensions of undocumented immigrants at the U.S.–Mexico border are set for their largest year-on-year increase in history. There is, in fact, a humanitarian crisis on the border. How did this come about? More importantly, what can be done to address it?

Many of U.S. Transportation Command's peacetime movements are crucial preparation for wartime. But some customers think that costs are too high. This report analyzes cost recovery to better align customer peacetime decisions with the wartime mission.

Thousands of data breaches occur each year with some costing millions of dollars. Consequently, cyber insurance has grown rapidly in the past decade. In this research, we conduct the first rigorous qualitative study of actual insurance policies.

The Mueller report could help mobilize political pressure in the United States for a stronger posture toward Russian activities that harm American and allied interests. But the Kremlin will likely still see propaganda, disinformation, and subterfuge as useful tools to undermine America's values and cohesion.

The smuggling of unlawful migrants from the Northern Triangle region of Central America—Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador—to the United States generated between $200 million and $2.3 billion for human smugglers in 2017. The wide range reflects uncertainty about the number of migrants that travel northward, their use of smugglers and the fees they pay.

The authors examine the structure, operations, and financing of actors that engage in human smuggling along routes from Central America to the United States and develop a preliminary estimate of revenues associated with human smuggling.

Smuggling unlawful migrants from Central America to the United States generated between $200 million and $2.3 billion for human smugglers in 2017. The wide range reflects uncertainty about the number of migrants, their use of smugglers, and the fees they pay. Transnational criminal organizations are only one type of actor involved.

As space becomes more congested with satellites of all sizes and types, the need for every nation to actively participate in the space safety coordination system grows. Most spacefaring countries participate, but a few countries do not—notably, Russia and China. That creates greater potential for collisions and hazards from debris.

After the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, in which 11 hospitals were damaged and eight were evacuated, California adopted SB1953, which aims to improve hospital resilience to seismic events. The law requires hospitals to reduce their buildings' risk of collapse by 2020 and to remain operational after an earthquake by 2030. California hospitals would need to make substantial investments to meet 2030 state seismic safety standards.

Counterterrorism finance strategies have reduced terrorist access to official currencies. Will terrorist groups therefore increase their use of digital cryptocurrencies? New ones have emerged, including some that claim to be more private and secure than Bitcoin, but they also have limitations that make them less viable.

California's Human Right to Water Bill declares that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.” One clear barrier to reaching this target is the sheer number of small water utilities that pose service sustainability and public health risks to their customers.

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Legislative Analyst

Laura Patton is a legislative analyst at the RAND Corporation, focusing on homeland security and terrorism, safety and justice, and transportation and infrastructure. Prior to joining RAND, she served as a legislative assistant for Congressman David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the House…

Senior Policy Researcher

Louay Constant is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. While at RAND, he has worked on a number of projects that have examined a range of social policy issues including K-12 education reform, postsecondary education and training, and labor markets. Constant’s main research…

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